Epistles of John

A study of John's three letters

Saturday, February 6, 2010

The Epistles of John - 1 John 2

Read Chapter 2 of 1 John first so we can see the overall theme of this chapter without getting lost in the details.


1 My *dear children, I am writing this to you **so that you will not ***sin (habitually). But IF anyone does sin, we have an ****advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.



  • *dear children: little children (Greek - teknion). 7 times in 1 John.

  • **so that you will not sin: 3rd purpose of writing

    • 1st purpose 1 John 1:3 - so that you may have fellowship with us

    • 2nd purpose 1 John 1:4 - that you may fully share
      our joy

    • The difference between Christians and non-Christians is that Christians have the ability not to sin while the unbeliever is a slave to sin (Romans 6:20-22).

    • No one should ever claim that he has not sinned but everyone should make it their constant aim to not sin.



  • *** sin: Greek hamartano = miss the mark.

  • ****advocate: (Greek - parakletos). Term for a lawyer.
    Satan is the "prosecuting attorney" demanding the death penalty. Satan is called "the accuser" in Revelation 12:10.
    We also see Satan as the accuser in the book of Job.

    • The Greek word, "parakletos" is the same word translated "Comforter" in reference to the Holy Spirit in John 14:16, 26; John 15:26; and John 16:7.

    • In Luke 22:31-32, Jesus said Satan wanted to test Peter, but Jesus was praying for him that his faith would not fail.

    • Jesus Christ is our advocate (our defense attorney) and can plead our case and stand up with us because He is 100% righteous. A human defense lawyer argues for the innocence of his client. But our Advocate, Jesus Christ, admits our guilt - and then enters His plea on our behalf, as the one who has made an atoning sacrifice for our sinful guilt.

    • John 14:16,26: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. ... But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

    • 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.

    • Hebrews 7:25: Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

    • Revelation 12:10: Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night.




2 He himself is the *sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the **sins of all the world.



  • *sacrifice that atones:

    • The Septuagint used the same Greek word translated "propitiation" in the King James Version (hilasmos) to translate the "mercy seat" on the ark of the covenant. Jesus' body was the site where God placated His wrath against sin.

    • Romans 3:25: For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

    • Hebrews 2:17: Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.

    • 1 John 4:10: This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

    • A just God can’t simply ignore sin - the penalty must be paid, that’s the reason Jesus came and died; we then are no longer under the eternal penalty of our sin. The penalty was paid, but not by us since we can’t perform the required sacrifice.



  • **sins of all the world: Even Hitler's? Christ's death made eternal life available for all, but not automatic for all. "Our" refers to the sins of all believers, and the "whole world" means all humankind, not just the elect. But, we need to accept the provision made for our sin to be saved from sin's penalty.


3 And we can be sure that we know him IF we obey his commandments.



  • How many groups today claim that we cannot know for sure that we're saved?


4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.



  • The Gnostics threw out the Old Testament completely. John is saying that we need to examine what a "teacher" believes and practices, not just says.

  • But what commandments are we to obey? The answer is in verse 7!


5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.


6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives *as Jesus did.



  • *as Jesus did: How is it possible to live as Jesus did (WWJD)? The answer is once again in verse 7.


A New Commandment


7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.



  • John 13:34-35: So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

  • 2 John 1:5-6: I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

  • Leviticus 19:18: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

  • The Greeks had several words for love. The word John uses is agape. This is not an emotional love. The word is better expressed as a commitment. As such it’s important to know you can’t stop loving someone in the agapao sense, since if you stop it means you weren’t committed in the first place. For a truly successful marriage to succeed and last through hardships, agape love is required!


8 Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.



  • John 1:9: The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

  • John 8:12: Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

  • Ephesians 5:8: For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

  • 1 Thessalonians 5:5: For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.

  • But darkness fell across Europe as the Roman church turned from faith in Christ to bringing in pagan holidays and practices and keeping the knowledge of the Word from the people and forbid the availability of the Scriptures from anyone but the Roman authorities. As the Reformation took place, light came to Europe again to some degree - as the Word was once again not hidden. The first thing a dictator or despot (and Anti-Christ) must do is eliminate all true Christians (and the Word) who would oppose him so that he can install a new "world order."


9 IF anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness.



  • John 1:5: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.


10 Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.



  • Romans 14:13: So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.

  • We must guard against a serious misinterpretation of verse 10 at this point. "Whoever loves his brother lives in the light" can be construed to mean that anyone who genuinely loves others is in fact walking in God's light. But that view misses two important items: First, it takes into account only one of the epistle's "tests of life." Confession of Christ provides another important boundary of the realm of light (2:22-23; 4:2; 5:5-8). Second, it fails to consider adequately the historical situation of the epistles. John asks who truly manifests the love for their brothers and sisters that Jesus commanded, those who have left the fellowship or those who have remained?


11 But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.



  • John 12:35: Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going.

  • 2 Corinthians 4:4: Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.


12 I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.


13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.


14 I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.



  • Fellowship with God is possible only for genuine believers, for they have been forgiven (justification) and have overcome the evil one (sanctification).


Do Not Love This World


15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.



  • Romans 12:2: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

  • Love here is again agapao, and recall it means a commitment. If you are too committed to the world, it’s a sign you need to reevaluate your position. It’s not possible to serve both God and the world, as Jesus reminded us in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 6:24).


16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.



  • Romans 13:14: Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

  • Ephesians 2:3: All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.


17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.



  • Fellowship with God is squelched when believers give in to the impulses of the flesh; hence they are warned not to love the world.

  • This was the problem of the "rich young ruler" in Luke 18:18-23.

  • John 8:35: A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.

  • 1 Corinthians 7:31: Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away.


Warning about Antichrists (false teachers)


18 Dear children, the *last hour is here. You have heard that the **Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.



  • *last hour: referring to the turning to the Gentiles and the subsequent destruction of the temple? John is expecting the tribulation period shortly.

    • Jesus Christ was asked by his disciples when the destruction of the temple was to be, and what would be the Sign of His Coming and of the End of the Age (Matthew 24:3). The disciples assumed that the destruction of the temple would happen roughly at the end of the age. We know the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by General Titus and the Roman Armies. Not one stone was left upon another, as Romans sought to recover the melted gold after they burned the temple. This fulfilled the words of Jesus literally, who said in Matthew 24:2, "Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”"

    • How is it possible that John can say this is the last hour? Technically, the Greek phrase is without an article in front of it. It can reasonably be translated "the last hour," but it can also reasonably be translated "a last hour," and in this case the latter is better. John is quite clear that the antichrist is coming, but that there are also many antichrists that will precede him.



  • **Antichrist:

    • Matthew 24:24: For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.

    • 1 John 4:3: But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

    • 1 Timothy 4:1: Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.

    • 2 Timothy 3:1-5: You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

    • Among these were the Gnostics who believed that anything material was sinful and therefore Jesus could not have been God's Son.

      • Docetists taught that Jesus was not truly a man and therefore not our Savior. Docetist Gnostics taught that evil was linked with the flesh and so it was deity could not manifest in a human body. Therefore, they could have seen Jesus during His earthly ministry but couldn’t have touched Him as he had the form of something like a ghost.
        However, John 20:27 rejects that particular view when Thomas doubted who Jesus really was. Jesus permitted Thomas to touch Him to demonstrate to Thomas that He was both the Son of God and Son of Man which refuted both the Cerinthian and the Docetist approaches.

      • Followers of Cerinthus believed that Jesus was not fully God but that God only came upon Him at His baptism and departed from Him before His crucifixion. Cerinthian Gnostics taught that Jesus was an excellent man and that God’s Spirit was with him but left prior to his work on the cross. For them it was inconceivable that God could possibly die.
        Cerinthian Gnosticism is the basic doctrine in Christian Science.

      • Gnosticism centers on a search for higher knowledge believing that through that knowledge one can obtain salvation from the material world. This knowledge was not merely some intellectual knowledge but a type of esoteric spiritual knowledge that could only be attained by “special spiritual people.” This knowledge was supposedly not available to “ordinary” Christians. However, it was available to certain types and once the special spiritual knowledge was attained, according to Gnosticism, this person was saved.



    • John is the only writer who actually uses the word "antichrist" - I John 2:18, I John 2:22, I John 4:3 and II John 1:7.

    • The antichrist is, in short, a counterfeit Christ.

    • "Anti" doesn’t mean opposite, but "substitute" or "instead of". John warns of false teachers who substitute some other Jesus who can’t save. Cults always substitute a phony Jesus for the real.

    • Jesus said there would be false Christs and false apostles, wars and rumors of wars, and claims that Jesus was here and there throughout the church age. We should expect that to happen. But Jesus also said that there was a day coming when one would set up "the abomination of desolation" in the holy place, and then the end would come. Paul talked about the mystery of lawlessness that would characterize the church age. Lawlessness will do its worst, ascending at times to horrific proportions, and then, by the grace of God, we may be allowed a time of respite. But there is a man of lawlessness, one individual who will lead the last assault against the cause of Christ.

    • The term antichrist refers to teachers and doctrines that are at war against the Lord himself, that are specifically attempting to undermine the cause of Christ and what the Bible teaches about him in particular, that would take away his majesty and would ultimately replace him with some other lord. The point is, again, that Jesus specifically is the target, the truth about Jesus is what is at stake.

    • This Antichrist goes by many titles:

      • The little horn in Daniel 7:8

      • The king of fierce countenance in Daniel 8:23

      • The Prince that shall come in Daniel 9:26

      • The willful king in Daniel 11:36-45

      • The one who comes in his own name in John 5:43

      • The son of perdition, the man of sin, and the lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and 2:8






19 These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.



  • What he is saying in effect is that the antichrists have left behind the Scriptures, or denied the witness of the apostles. They have left biblical religion and have set up their own theology based on themselves and their explanation of how things ought to be done.

  • Acts 20:30: Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.


20 But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth.



  • Greek - But you have an anointing from the Holy One. The Holy One is the Messiah, God's anointed - the Lord Jesus. And Jesus has offered an anointing to his followers. John says that all of us who are Christians have been given a gift, an outpouring from him.


21 So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies.


22 And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.



  • John 8:44: For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

  • Muslims are antichrist, modernists are antichrists, most preachers in the liberal churches are antichrist, Jehovah's Witnesses are antichrist, unsaved Jews are antichrist, the gnostics were antichrist. Atheists aren't antichrist - they deny he even ever existed! Anyone who says he's a believer in God but says that Jesus is not the Son of God or does not believe that God came to the earth in human form is not a Christian and does not have eternal life; instead, he is antichrist! Wow - this sure does indict a lot of church leaders and so-called ministers who equate Jesus with Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr and others (which is what was taught in the Methodist Church when I was a member before they became so blatant that even a dummy like me caught on to their hypocrisy).


23 Anyone who *denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.



  • *denies the Son doesn’t have the Father: the main sin of the Gnostics! But, this is also the sin of the Muslims and the Jews!

  • John 17:3: And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

  • 1 John 4:15: All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.

  • 1 John 5:1: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.

  • To deny that Jesus is the Messiah of Isaiah 9:6-7 constitutes a complete denial of the very mission of Jesus. Therefore, weed them out by the test of verse 23 by determining their doctrine of Jesus before you give offer them your attention.

  • Denying the Son, they have denied the Father. They have no relationship with the triune God. They have set themselves up in opposition to those who are biblical and who worship God the Father, Son, and Spirit.

  • Cults deny Jesus is THE Christ — note the definite article. Any group who denies Jesus is God and the Christ and the only path to salvation is lying to you.

  • Some false teachers know their ideas don’t mesh with the Bible and claim God gave them special revelations.

  • Paul warns us in Galatians 1:6-9 not only to not believe the false teachers, but if they (or even an angel) contradict what he already taught them they should be accursed. Strong words — many people ignore this at their peril.
    Who delivered the messages to Joseph Smith (the founder of Mormonism) - an "angel". Who delivered the Koran to Muhammad?

    • Galatians 1:8-9: Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.




24 So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.



  • 2 John 1:9: Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.


25 And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.



  • John 3:15-16: so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

  • John 6:40: For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

  • John 17:3: And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.


26 I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray.



  • Another purpose.


27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.



  • John again warns his sheep of the dangers of false teachers and one of their common lies: that the Bible is too hard to understand and you need someone to teach you. No real teacher will ever tell you not to read the Bible for yourself — they will encourage it!

  • John 16:13: When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

  • 1 Corinthians 2:10-12: But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.


Living as Children of God


28 And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he *returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.



  • *returns: appears (Greek - phaneroo - is revealed). The great thing about seeing corruption around us and so many denying Christ is that we know that we are that much closer to Christ's return - and we're to be full of courage!

  • Colossians 3:4: And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

  • 1 Thessalonians 2:19: After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you!

  • 1 John 3:2: Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.


29 Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.



  • 1 John 3:7,10: Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.



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Bible studies are held in Oakbay subdivision in Noblesville, Indiana. In-person Sunday studies have been eliminated because of COVID-19 concerns. Wednesday studies at 7:00 pm led by Don Terry via Zoom - presently studying the Book of Acts from a dispensationalist viewpoint. Bi-monthly Wednesday’s women’s studies at 7:00 pm led by Carolyn Terry via Zoom - presently studying Paul’s second letter to Timothy - and his last writing. You can see several of our present and past studies but we covered many other subjects before starting this blog. The goal of these studies is to bring each of us to know Christ better (epignosis) and then to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” as mentioned by Paul in Philippians 3:14 and to hear Jesus’ “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”. Dedicated to the memory of Don & Carolyn Terry’s daughter, DJ (Dorothy Jean) Terry, who went to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in 1999 at 20 years old.